There's A Targeting Scanner?
by Brave November
Summary: A short piece from the first Knights of the Old Republic play-through, based on my own miserable performance in the first space battle over Taris. A few swear words and, naturally, some exploding spacecraft. The two rather go together.


AN: I recently played through both KoTOR games, and although I was able to deal with most of combat without undue difficulty my first space battle took me hilariously by surprise. This is based on my increasingly frantic attempt to shoot down the six fighters that pursue you over Taris. Almost anything my PC, Sereyna, says, I said; Carth and Canderous's dialogue was inspired by the incredulous reactions of my roommate as he watched me. The location of the _Ebon Hawk's_ gun turrets came from Wookiepedia, though I'm still not sure I got it right.

* * *

The explosions began again just as the engines finished their pre-flight warm up. Sereyna tensed as the ship slowly turned to face the open hangar doors. "Think we can make it in time?" she asked Carth.

"We can try," he said, his hands moving frantically acrosss the console. "But we've got to clear the planet before we can jump to hyperspace—"

"We should go to Dantooine," Bastila said, already punching in the coordinates at the galaxy map. "There's a Jedi Enclave there, and. . ."

"Let's try and get past the blockade first, okay?" said Carth. "They'll have fighters. Someone needs to get on the gun turrets." He glanced at Sereyna. "Think you can handle it?"

"Um. . .I've never. . .maybe Canderous should do this?" Sereyna over her shoulder hopefully, but the Mandalorian was nowhere in sight.

"Canderous isn't here right now. Get on it!" he ordered, banking sharply to avoid the debris of a collapsing skyscraper.

"All right!" she snapped back. "Uh. . .where are they?"

"There's a deployable turret on the starboard side," said Bastila, pulling up a diagram of the ship. "Straight down the hall, up the ladder, down the crawlspace. Hurry! We'll be out of the atmosphere in a few seconds."

Sereyna ran, pushing herself off the wall as the ship lurched. She bit her lip and scrambled up the ladder and down the crawlspace. The gunner's nest was cramped and as dimly lit as the rest of the ship. She slid into the seat and looked at the controls in confusion. _Flashing. . .things. Safety harness. And_ _triggers. . .that's pretty obvious._ She grabbed them and looked up in time to see at least three fighters bearing silently down on her. With a startled yelp, she grabbed the triggers and shot wildly.

Laser fire arced pointlessly out into empty space. She saw the shields flicker as enemy fire hit them, seemingly from every direction.

"Dammit, woman, were you asleep during training?" Carth said over the communicator. She winced away from the noise.

"I'm a bloody scout, not a gunner!" she retorted. "You're the trained pilot. Can't you outmaneuver them or something?"

"I'm doing everything I can. This on you."

"Great." She tried to follow one of the enemy fighters, but it was too far out of range. As she focused on it, another one swooped in from behind her and peppered the Hawk with laser fire. "Dammit!" She swiveled quickly, firing blindly, and managed to hit him. A relieved breath hissed between her clenched teeth as his ship exploded soundlessly. _Finally._

More fire from the left—she turned quickly, but the fighter veered away faster than she could move the guns. "Hold still, you little bastards!" she cursed.

"Are you even looking at your targeting scanner?" Carth asked.

"There's a targeting scanner?"

The pilot groaned. "The readout by your left elbow," he said with exaggerated patience. "Tell me how you want me to move when they get closer."

"Oh." _That makes it a lot easier._ Sereyna shook her head and squinted at the blinking dots. "One's coming in low from starboard," she said, calming a little. "Can you angle down a bit?" The ship banked, and she squeezed both triggers madly. "Yes!"

"What the Lost Hells is going on?" Canderous called up to her from the foot of the ladder.

_Oh, now you show up. _"Why are you asking me?!"

"I'd better not die like this," he said darkly.

"Don't. . .just shut up! Carth, in front of us!"

"I see 'em." She waited until the approaching fighter was dead in front of her before firing. The ship rolled, and she had to cling desperately to the controls to keep from falling out of her seat. _Should've strapped on the harness. _ "Reyna, this would be a really bad time for you to find something you're not good at," Carth said with forced calm.

"I've got it!" _I hope_. Another fighter came in low. "Drop down, drop down. . ."

"How much? Degrees and minutes!"

"I dunno. . .keep dropping. . .got him!" The explosion shook the ship. Pieces of debris slammed into the area around her, and she flinched.

"Yeah, try not to take out our shields, too," Carth advised.

"I'm coming up there!" Canderous bellowed. "Get ready to switch with me."

"There's no time!" Sereyna snapped. _But I really, really wish there was._

"Tell him there are two additional turrets-" said Bastila over the communicator.

"You tell him! Carth, they're behind us now!"

"Hang on!" The ship angled sharply upward, and Sereyna braced herself in her seat. She heard Canderous cursing as he fell from the ladder, and a Wookie roar. The _Hawk_ dove around, and she gritted her teeth. _Almost. . .almost. . ._ They dropped smoothly behind their pursuers, and she squeezed the triggers frantically. The nearest ship spun out of control when she hit it and crashed into its friend. "YES! A twofer!"

"One left," Carth reassured her. "Just keep him away from us, and we should be able to make the jump. . ."

Sereyna glanced at the energy readout to her right. "I think the cannon's almost out of power."

"That's the shields," came the laconic answer.

"Aaaaugh!" She grabbed the triggers and fired wildly in the approaching fighter's general direction. One of her shots must've connected, because the fighter veered away with half of its fuselage on fire. "We're clear!"

"About time," Carth said, undisguised relief in his voice. "Making the jump to Dantooine. . .now."

Sereyna took a deep breath and edged out of her seat. She stumbled on strangely weak legs, and found that she was perfectly content to recline on the floor for a few minutes. _Worse than the swoop race_, she thought dully, body shaking with delayed reaction. _Worse than Bendak. Worse than. . .worse than. . ._ She couldn't think of anything that compared except the half-remembered trip down to Taris in the damaged escape pod. _Not quite as bad as that_, she decided, somehow cheered by the realization. She grinned and pulled herself back out into the crawlspace.

Canderous was waiting at the foot of the ladder with crossed arms and a scowl. "That was the worst shooting I've ever been lucky enough to live through," he said bluntly.

"I'll practice," she snapped.

"Huh. You need it." Sereyna glared at him, but couldn't think of a comeback. She went back to the cockpit. Carth looked up at her as she entered.

" 'There's a targeting scanner?' " he said incredulously.

"Oh, give me a break."

"Oh, no way, sister," he said, grinning. "I am _never_ gonna forget that." He shook his head. "Or how you thought the shield readout was the cannon charge. . ."

Her fingers twitched as she fought the urge to box his ears. It was becoming a familiar impulse. "How well did you do in your first firefight?" she said defensively.

His grin widened. "I knew there was a targeting scanner."

She sighed. "Never mind."


End file.
